The Best Way to Cut Open a Pomegranate, According to Padma Lakshmi

Opened pomegranate on a wooden cutting board

Chances are, you’ve seen pomegranate arils at your local grocery. The little cups full of juicy, bright red, teardrop-sized seeds are a convenient way to eat the bright, sweet-tart fruit. You can sprinkle them on top of salads or hummus, add them to your morning yogurt, serve them on your holiday cheese board or just eat a handful of them as a snack. 

Although the pre-packed arils are convenient, they can spoil pretty quickly. A better (and less expensive) idea? Buy a whole fruit and learn how to cut a pomegranate yourself. If you've never done this before, it can seem a little intimidating, but once you do it you'll be surprised how easy (and satisfying) it is.

When it comes to getting the seeds out of pomegrantes, there are many schools of thought. One way is to cut the fruit in half through the equator. The cut side is held over a bowl of water while you whack the back of the fruit with a wooden spoon to eject the arils into the bowl. The whacking method works, but can be messy and can also bruise the fruit.

One method we're fond of is the method that Padma Lakshmi, author and Emmy-nominated host of Hulu’s Taste the Nation, prefers. Lakshmi has shared her devotion to this fruit many times on social media including her favorite way to eat them as well as her preferred way to cut open the pomegranate to release the arils from the fruit. She's not the only person who likes this method, but when we saw her Instagram demo we knew we had to try it—and once we tried it we were sold. Here's how to cut a pomegranate like Padma.

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How to Buy the Best Pomegranate

In the Northern Hemisphere, pomegranate season starts when the weather cools down in late September and stretches into February, which means that now is prime time to pick one up.

To find a ripe pomegranate Lakshmi advises to “look for fruits that have a hard, smooth exterior, and feel heavy for their size. The larger the fruit, the juicier it will be. Avoid ones with cracks or bruises, as the interior fruit is often starting to spoil.” Once you picked your pomegranate, it's time to get to work.

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The Best Way to Cut a Pomegranate

Before you begin, grab a few essentials—a sharp knife, a medium bowl filled with water and an apron or at least a dark-colored shirt (it can get messy).

1. Cut a window in the top of the fruit. Lakshmi recommends cutting "a hexagon on the top of the fruit around the crown." We've found that a rectangle or square works, so feel free to choose your own adventure when it comes to the shape. Cutting into and removing the crown of the pomegranate will expose a hollow that will reveal the membrane structure inside the fruit.

2. Score the outside of the pomegranate. Once you remove the window you cut from the top of the fruit you'll see the top of the white membranes inside the fruit. Take your knife and score the outside of the pomegranate, following along those lines. "You should have about six sections," says Lakshmi. And don't worry if the sections aren't even. Every pomegranate is different. If you follow the membranes you'll be ok.

3. Carefully break the pomegranate open. Here's where the magic happens. "Gently break open the pomegranate," says Lakshmi. That sounds pretty basic until you actually do it. As you break the fruit open along the scored lines, the pomegranate will open like a flower. The wedges should come out in sections with arils densely bound within.

4. Prep it—or eat it immediately (or both). Now that the fruit is broken down, you have a few options. You can gently remove the arials with your fingers in a bowl of water (to minimize getting the staining juices everywhere) or you can do as Lakshmi does, and eat the fruit directly from the wedge, like an apple. Just make sure you eat it over the sink to catch the juices. You can also do mix of both, so you can have a treat now and some arils for later.

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